The Berlinale 2027 retrospective is shaping up to be one of the festival’s most provocative sidebars in years. Marking 100 years since Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, the program will examine how cinema has imagined the future through dystopia, resistance, technology and social upheaval.
Unveiled under the title “Rage Against the Machine”, the retrospective will revisit a century of futuristic filmmaking while asking why Metropolis still feels so current. From artificial intelligence and urban life to feminism, class struggle and capitalism, the 2027 edition promises a timely conversation about the worlds movies build—and the systems they challenge.
Berlinale 2027 retrospective centers on ‘Metropolis’ at 100
The inspiration for the Berlinale 2027 retrospective is the centenary of Fritz Lang’s landmark silent science-fiction epic Metropolis. First unveiled in Berlin in 1927, the film remains one of the most analyzed and influential works in film history, known for its towering cityscapes, machine-age anxiety and striking vision of class division.
Rather than treating the anniversary as a simple tribute, Berlinale is using it as a launch point for a broader exploration of cinematic futures. Festival leadership has framed the selection as a fresh reading of Metropolis, one that connects its imagery and ideas to modern debates about surveillance, labor, identity and rebellion.
That approach gives the Berlinale 2027 retrospective both historical weight and contemporary urgency. Instead of looking backward with nostalgia alone, the program asks how science fiction and speculative cinema continue to reflect the tensions of their own times.
What “Rage Against the Machine” will explore
The retrospective’s title signals that this is not just a showcase of futuristic style. It is a thematic survey of films that interrogate power.
According to the announced concept, the program will explore:
- Urbanism and the cinematic city as a space of control and alienation
- Artificial intelligence and the fear—or promise—of autonomous systems
- Feminism and the role of women and marginalized voices in imagining alternate futures
- Capitalism and how genre cinema critiques labor, consumption and hierarchy
- Rebellion as a recurring force in dystopian and cyberpunk storytelling
This broad scope is part of what makes the Berlinale 2027 retrospective especially compelling. It positions science fiction not merely as spectacle, but as a political and cultural language that filmmakers have long used to question the present.
Films already announced for the lineup
The first wave of titles suggests a dynamic mix of mainstream classics, cult discoveries and formally adventurous works. The Berlinale 2027 retrospective will include films from across different national cinemas and creative traditions, underscoring how global the genre has become.
RoboCop and studio sci-fi satire
Among the most recognizable selections is Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop (1987), a Hollywood blockbuster that remains one of the sharpest satires of privatization, policing and corporate culture. Its inclusion makes perfect sense in a program concerned with machines, systems and resistance.
Underground and cyberpunk visions
Also announced is Muscha’s Decoder (1984), an underground cyberpunk work inspired by William S. Burroughs. Its presence points to Berlinale’s interest in more experimental and subcultural visions of the future, not just canonized studio productions.
Anime’s place in the conversation
Rintarō’s Metoroporisu (2001), a cult anime adaptation with visual and thematic echoes of Metropolis, will further broaden the lineup. Including anime within the Berlinale 2027 retrospective highlights how futuristic storytelling evolves across mediums, aesthetics and audiences.
German cinema and restored landmarks
The program will also honor Germany’s own contributions with Helma Sanders-Brahms’ The Last Days of Gomorrah (1974), noted for its punk sensibility and unconventional production style. Another key title is Ngozi Onwurah’s Welcome II the Terrordome (1995), which will screen in a new restoration. The film holds historic significance as the first British feature directed by a Black woman, adding another vital dimension to the retrospective’s commitment to alternate futures and underrepresented voices.
Why this retrospective feels especially timely
The strongest idea behind the Berlinale 2027 retrospective may be its insistence that visions of tomorrow are never neutral. Science fiction often reveals who holds power, who is excluded and who dares to imagine something different.
That matters in 2027, when conversations around AI, automation, inequality and social unrest have become impossible to ignore. By linking Metropolis to later films that are punk, feminist and politically charged, Berlinale is making the case that the future on screen is always also a debate about the present.
The retrospective is once again being mounted with the Deutsche Kinemathek and led for a second year by artistic director Heleen Gerritsen. Festival head Tricia Tuttle has emphasized that the program offers a revitalized reading of Lang’s masterpiece—one that feels youthful, provocative and urgent rather than museum-like.
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Conclusion
The Berlinale 2027 retrospective looks set to do more than celebrate a science-fiction classic. By using Metropolis as a springboard into questions of rebellion, technology, identity and power, Berlinale is assembling a program that feels as intellectually rich as it is visually exciting.
If the final lineup delivers on its early promise, the Berlinale 2027 retrospective could become one of the festival’s defining events—showing that a 100-year-old film can still spark urgent new conversations about the future we are building now.
